"Third brother, I never thought that the imperial court would lose so much business tax every year! No, I have to increase taxes. Thirty-one tax is too low!"

Although he has woken up from the ecstasy of earning 20 million taels of silver per year, the little fat man is still worried about the huge business taxes lost every year.

There was no way. When he learned that the transaction amount of more than 20 million taels of silver only required a tax of 600,000 taels of silver, the little fat man was completely shocked by the low tax rate.

What really makes him angry is that even with such a low business tax, there are still so many people unwilling to pay tax.

You know, how many 20 million taels of silver were there in the annual commercial transactions of the Ming Dynasty?

Not to mention anything else, as far as silk is concerned, the annual transaction volume is at least 20 million taels, not to mention tea, porcelain and other key products. And these are only the calculated foreign trade volumes. From this

This shows how much commercial tax revenue the Ming Dynasty lost every year.

"Haha, Your Majesty, we should slow down the tax increase for a while. Let's slowly raise the thirty-one business tax first!"

Seeing that the little fat boy was so stimulated that he wanted to run away before he even learned to walk, Wang Bing immediately poured a ladle of cold water on him.

You must know that the biggest problem with commercial taxation in the Ming Dynasty was not the low tax rate, but the "tax exemption" and too many tax evaders. Otherwise, even a low tax rate of thirty to one tax would add at least hundreds or even tens of millions to the national treasury every year

Two denarii in taxes.

"Come here, tell Mr. Zhang and all the cabinet bachelors to come here!"

He did what he said, and the little fat man, who was so stimulated by the huge loss that his body ached, immediately sent someone to inform Zhang Juzheng and other cabinet members to come for discussion.

"Your Majesty, if there is nothing to do, I will leave first. I haven't visited the Military Academy for many days!"

Seeing that the little fat man wanted to discuss the collection of business taxes with the cabinet, Wang Bing was ready to run away.

Just kidding, it's okay to come up with ideas behind the scenes, but he really doesn't want to get involved in government affairs and play petty bickering with these old foxes!

"Haha, third child, are you afraid?"

Seeing Wang Bing wanting to skate, the little fat man immediately looked over with a joking look on his face.

"Ah? I don't serve in the imperial court, so what am I afraid of? It's just that I have been busy with the mirror during this period. I haven't looked at it in the military academy for many days. Some..."

"Then stay. If anyone objects then, you can help me!"

Before Wang Bing could finish his words, the little fat man spoke directly and forced him to stay.

…

"I want to re-enact commercial tax, what do you think?"

Soon, when Zhang Juzheng and several cabinet members arrived, the little fat man without any hesitation directly proposed the matter of re-levying commercial taxes.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid it won't be the right time to change the commercial tax at this time!"

Hearing that the little fat man wanted to re-formulate the commercial tax policy, Zhang Juzheng, the chief and assistant minister, couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Your Majesty, the New Deal has just been fully rolled out. If the commercial tax collection is changed at this time, it will cause dissatisfaction among the people..."

Immediately after Zhang Juzheng spoke, Zhang Siwei, the second assistant to the cabinet, also spoke.

"It's not impossible for Your Majesty to re-enact commercial tax, but the time is really not suitable right now. Please think again!"

Finally, the youngest cabinet member Shen Shixing had no choice but to stand up and express his position without being guilty.

Well, from Zhang Juzheng to Zhang Siwei to Shen Shixing, no one in the entire cabinet clearly agreed with the little fat man's proposal.

"Sir, you have taught me that everything will be done if you are prepared, and if you are not prepared, it will be ruined! I just want to work out the business tax collection in advance and have no plans to implement it immediately!"

From the words of several people, the little fat man could certainly tell that Zhang Juzheng was really just thinking about the New Deal. As for Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, that's not necessarily the case!

Especially Zhang Siwei, who was born into a wealthy businessman's family. The imposition of business tax was a bloodbath for his family. How could he really agree to it?

"Then how does Your Majesty want to change the commercial tax?"

Hearing that the little fat man did not want to implement it immediately, Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked the little fat man about his specific intention to change.

"Today, my imperial shop helped the imperial sister sell mirrors for a day, and she got sixty-five thousand taels of silver! If this happens every day, in one year, it will be more than 20,000,000 taels of silver!"

Instead of answering Zhang Juzheng's question, the little fat man showed off his wealth in an exaggerated way.

In fact, after being reminded by Wang Bing, the little fat man also knew that with the current output of Baojingfang, it was simply impossible to sell so much silver.

But for the next words, the little fat man still used the unrealistically huge number he had just calculated to hit several cabinet ministers hard.

"hiss!"

"this……"

Several cabinet ministers, including Zhang Juzheng, were all shocked when they heard that a "small" mirror could be sold for more than 20 million taels of silver a year.

Especially Zhang Juzheng, he had worked hard for more than ten years to carry out the New Deal reforms, but in the end it was worse than a small mirror, which made him feel ashamed!

"Do you know, sir, how much tax will I have to pay on these two million taels of silver?"

Ignoring the surprise of several cabinet ministers, the little fat man asked again.

"This, probably... probably more than 600,000 taels!"

Although it was a bit embarrassing for the little fat man to ask this question, as the chief assistant, Zhang Juzheng had to bite the bullet and answer it.

"Haha, sir, you're right, it's more than 600,000 and less than 700,000 taels!"

After taking Zhang Juzheng's words, the little fat man said with a self-deprecating smile.

"With a transaction volume of more than 20 million taels, the imperial court can only levy a tax of 600,000 taels! At this tax rate, in front of those wealthy merchants, our mighty Ming court is simply a beggar! No, it's better than a beggar, because

These people are still unwilling to pay such a small amount of tax to the court, which is not even a fraction!"

The little fat man who was still laughing at himself was now flushed with anger and gnashing his teeth.

"Your Majesty, this thirty-one tax rate was set by Taizu, and in the thirtieth year of Hongwu, Taizu once said"

There is a clear edict..."

"Master Zhang, times have changed. The thirty tax rate was set at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Emperor Taizu set such a low tax rate in order to restore the business that had been plundered and suppressed by the Yuan Dynasty and to cultivate and prosper. Now two hundred years have passed.

Now, it’s almost time to recuperate, right?”

Under the signal of the little fat man, Wang Bing had no choice but to stand up and refute Zhang Siwei, who still jumped out to express his objection at this time.

"And if I remember correctly, the people exempted from tax mentioned in Emperor Taizu's edict at that time refer to things produced by the common people, and do not include those 'rich merchants', right?"

Looking at Zhang Siwei with a hesitant expression, Wang Bing deliberately emphasized the word "rich businessman" in his tone, which can be regarded as a mockery of this hypocrite who is called the fourth dimension of the country but actually lacks any of them.
Chapter completed!